GE sub reaches MOU with Russian railway

GE Transportation, Locorail, and Yakutia Railways in Russia announced Friday a Memorandum of Understanding "to explore the possibility of forming a strategic relationship to modernize diesel electric locomotives."

The announcement, released in Erie, Pa., said the MOU "creates a framework by which Yakutia Railways, under GE license, will modernize diesel electric locomotives at a Yakutia Railways facility in Aldan, Russia, utilizing GE FDL engine kits manufactured at GE Transportation facilities in Erie and Grove City, Pa., USA."

Under the agreement's framework, GE Transportation will supply a minimum of 20 FDL engine kits per year over five years. GE Transportation will work with Locorail and Yakutia Railways to provide expert service training to maintain and overhaul the modernized FDL engines.

GE Transportation will provide support to address specific improvements that include tooling and equipment at the Yakutia Railways facility in order to provide maximum availability of GE modernized diesel-electric locomotives in the Locorail and Yakutia Railway fleet.

Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of GE Transportation, said: "GE Transportation has been partnering with regional locomotive builders to produce the most technologically advanced and fuel efficient locomotives worldwide. GE along with its local partners has a long history of modernizing locomotives as well as building new locomotives in Kazakhstan and the CIS region. This agreement will provide the framework to provide Locorail and Yakutia Railway the ability to provide reliable locomotive service to the region for decades.

"We look forward to providing GE Transportation's advanced locomotive technology and contributing to the Republic of Sakha's sustainable infrastructure growth for many years to come," Simonelli said.

Yakutia Railways operates in the large namesake Russian republic, also called the Sakha Republic, located in the eastern (Asian) portion of the world’s largest nation.